Heard the story about the ducks that swim happily in a pot of steadily heating water until, well, their goose is cooked? Knowing when to make the big leap to upgrade your legacy building automation system (BAS) is kind of the same thing.
While many tried-and-true legacy systems still do the job most days, growing inefficiencies, rising maintenance costs, and time-consuming integration issues mean building managers are increasingly feeling the heat to migrate to a next-generation open source BAS.
Benefits of Upgrading Your Legacy BAS
Today, standardized protocols and open standards allow proprietary BAS equipment from dozens of vendors to communicate seamlessly across systems. This enables everything from HVAC, lighting, and fire and smoke detection systems to smart access control, digital signage, and automated maintenance calls. That means happier tenants, improved efficiency, and less costly systems downtime — not to mention fewer headaches!
5 Signs It’s Time to Upgrade a Legacy BAS
So, does the water still feel just fine, or is a change overdue? Here are five telltale signs it’s time to get your BAS ducks in a row…
1. You’re setting energy efficiency goals for 2030. Your legacy BAS still thinks it’s 1995…
It’s a tough new energy-efficient world and it’s only going to get tougher. Is your legacy BAS up to the challenge? Newer BAS can include data analytics software to pick up on energy usage trends in need of optimization.
Take your HVAC for example. A new BAS can gather HVAC usage data for various zones in your facility, analyze that information, and then optimize your HVAC’s energy usage. That means you can save on your facility’s electric bill, meet your energy efficiency goals for 2030, and be ahead of the game for whatever green initiatives come next.
Read More: Reducing Commercial Building Energy with a BAS
2. Your legacy BAS has a patch for the latest security threat. Probably.
Connected devices are the new frontline for hackers after you and your tenants’ data and privacy. Are you sure you’re prepared? Hackers are getting better and better at infiltrating our systems. So if your system is decades old, you’re running the risk of holes in your BAS security.
As it turns out, some cybercriminals base their entire focus on exploiting holes in outdated BAS. They can find an entry point via one of the many devices connected to your network. And once they’re in, they lock you out of your BAS and won’t let you back in unless you pay a hefty fee.
These ransomware attacks are always evolving, so be sure that your BAS security is one step ahead of the game.
3. Your supplier’s new technician no longer speaks your legacy BAS programming language.
Today’s technicians are interested in connecting systems, not doubling down on an outdated proprietary system. After all, if you’re due to upgrade your legacy BAS soon, why waste time, energy, and money on a lost cause?
With technology changing at a breakneck speed, it’s not uncommon for there to be a mismatch between your legacy BAS programming language and the programming language used today.
While these developments can mean better, more effective BAS, they aren’t always backward compatible. And when your new technician is at a loss as to how to bridge an outdated BAS programming language to today’s standards, it’s best to move on. Next-generation open-source BAS can make your day-to-day building management much simpler.
Explore More: System Integrations Services
4. Your legacy BAS does a great job supporting a 60,000-square-foot building. Unfortunately, it’s now running a 78,000-square-foot facility…
Your BAS was optimally designed for a building that no longer exists. As your business has grown over the years, it’s only natural that your building grew with it. But did your BAS get left behind?
For your BAS to provide the best service for your building, it needs to be fit for its purpose. An underpowered, outdated BAS can limp along for years without you really noticing that it’s on its last leg. So if your BAS has been left out of your development plan, it’s time to change that by considering an upgrade.
5. Your legacy BAS doesn’t have the memory to run the latest system efficiency reports (don’t worry, your tenants will soon let you know how you’re doing).
Your boss wants to know about the energy savings those expensive new windows are delivering. Your BAS would be able to deliver a report on that in seconds if you could run the latest software. But since you haven’t upgraded your legacy BAS yet, your system’s firmware and hardware can’t handle such robust software. You’re out of luck.
That means you might be stuck creating the system efficiency reports for your boss by yourself, not to mention more outages that you’ll be hearing about from your tenants. Why do it the hard way? If you upgrade your legacy BAS, it can keep your tenants happy and create these reports for you — without you lifting a finger.
Take the First Step in Upgrading Your Legacy BAS
Ready to make the change? Let’s start by exploring how Conexus can help you upgrade your legacy BAS to a next-generation system.
Click below to find out more.